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shooting from a treestand, do i am higher or lower?

5.6K views 40 replies 18 participants last post by  Buckfevr  
#1 · (Edited)
i've been shooting for many years. i just got my VX3 33 all set up, so this will be my first year i'll bowhunt and on top of that the first time to shoot from a treestand. my question is when i know what yardage he's at say 40yds and i put the pin on his heart, then do i aim a little higher or a little lower? i'm thinking a little higher?

thanks for your help!

Todd
 
#2 ·
The best way is to aim spot on, just like you aim on level ground, but bend at the waste to maintain your normal form in your upper body. Learning to shoot like this takes practice from treestand heights, aiming at targets at various ranges, at those downward angles. Some archery ranges have treestand height practice setups. I'm lucky I have a neighbor that lets me practice off their high deck over a creek bottom, where I can set targets out to 50 yards. My treestand has no front bar, so I can shoot without having to stand, if a deer suddenly comes in. So I also practice taking shots while sitting and bending at the waste too.

Practice, practice, practice.
 
#5 ·
cool guys, thanks for the help!

BigXX78, should i ditch the front bar in order to shoot? that's a little un-nerving. although i will definitely wear a harness!!!

K, idk if my rangefineder does that? i plan to have the yardages marked out well ahead of the hunt
 
#13 ·
If having the bar keeps you feeling more comfortable, then keep it. When I starting bowhunting 1987, my first few climbers never had them, so I got used to them without bars. It's an acquired sense of comfort. I only own 1 Summit Viper SD, with the bar, that I use only for occasional gun hunts. With the bar, you'll have to stand to shoot. That movement can spook deer, if they come in chasing and see your shadow move or whatever. Many hunters learn to be successful with the bar though.

You can use a rangefinder without angle compensation, if you range trees horizontally as landmarks right when you get up in the tree. Bow shot distance is horizontal distance, not the longer, hypotenuse of the shot angle distance. That's how we used rangefinders, before angle compensation became a thing. It is nice to have that feature though.
 
#9 ·
If the deer shows his left side, put the correct yardage pin on the kill spot

If the deer shows his right side, judge where the exit spot should be.

It takes some time, but the higher you go, the smaller the window of a clean kill.

Good hunting Sir, now go practice.
 
#12 ·
It's not if you can make 40-50yd shots all day long.... it's what happens while the arrow is in flight. The deer has more time to react to the shot, catch your scent, contact a branch etc... In most cases, taking shots on game at 50 yards is frowned upon with archery equipment. Especially for an inexperienced hunter. (I'm making an assumption that you are an inexperienced hunter based on this topic that YOU started)

Just because you can stack arrows at 50 yards in practice, doesn't mean you can do it after sitting 20' up a tree all day in less than favorable weather conditions with adrenaline pumping...

An arrow from a modern compound bow is still plenty lethal at 200+ yards... that doesn't mean it's a good idea to launch arrows at game from that distance.
 
#19 ·
Todd: I just reread your post and wanted to add a few things. shooting off the solid ground is quite different than 20' up a tree. Unless there is absolutely no breeze, the tree is constantly moving slightly which in itself can be a little unnerving to a new bowhunter, but can and will throw the shot off. Being new to bowhunting I wouldn't even consider a shot over 25 yards from a treestand unless you don't mind wounding a deer. You really need to practice from a treestand a lot before going after a live animal. Then you can answer your own question about where to hold.
Please be sure to wear your safety harness from the ground up and back so you can hunt another day. Enjoy every hunt but be safe.
 
#27 ·
Angle compensation would say that you aim lower. Less gravity, therefore less drop over distance. Someone who is geometry-smart can probably better explain it.


Semper Fi,
Mike
There definitely is a difference but in the midwest bow range, a yard or two is about it when 20 feet above the target and the shot is less than 30 yards. When angle compensating first came out we tried different distances at the Harrisburg show. We stood in the bleachers ranging and the most we could come up with was about 2 yards on a 30-yard shot. I think where angle compensation really comes into play is bow hunting out west and taking up and downhill shots at 60 yards or so. 😃 JMOYMMV
 
#22 ·
thirdhandman, thanks for your advice! even looking at a treestand is a bit intimidating to think i'm going up that thing with my V3X! maybe i can find a way to practice a bit going up there with it, or maybe my first few times out will be with my 30-30 then work way my up to taking the bow once i get more comfortable up there, and yes the safety-harness is a must! i ain't going up no tree without one!
 
#23 ·
Just listen to what thirdhand has wrote. YOU owe it to the animal you hunt to put that animal down as humanly as possible. Wounding an animal is no joke, that gut shot deer can take days to die. When hunting you may sit for hours before in an instant you have to slowly draw, aim, an shoot. Practice as close to hunting as you can, first shot counts. A tip I can give you is to come to full draw on every animal that comes into range. You will learn what you can, an can not get away with from your stand. You will learn to judge the way the animal acts and learn when you can move and when to freeze. It will also not be the first deer you have drawn back on when you make the decision to harvest an animal. Get to what ever height you are going to hunt from and throw a ton of shots on target. When that booner comes in it will be the hours of practice that take over and you will haul that cleanly shot Buck to the processor. Good Luck
 
#25 ·
Image


The question you are asking to solve is essentially a right triangle with "a" being the yards up the tree and "b" being the distance to the deer. As you can see from the visual representation the length of leg "c" will normally be longer than "b". The gravity (or drop) of the arrow is affected on the horizontal leg "b" (it's physics). When up the tree an angle compensating range finder does the math for you and give you the solution to "b" (what pin you need to use). With my non-compensating range finder, I can measure from the base of the tree I'll be climbing to where I think the deer will cross or, climb the tree to my hunting level and measure horizontally across to a tree that I think the deer will be standing beside or, I measure "c" and then use 4/5 the "c" value (not perfect but it has worked for me).
 
#38 · (Edited)
thirdman, why do i hear of talk at my LAS of guys taking 40yd shots while up a tree? geometry says the longer the shot (which in my work's world is called "slant range" wikipedia has a great explanation of what "slant range" is, but it is exactly what we are talking about) the less the height of the tree has to do with the shot.
 
#39 ·
Well, first off I'm not sure about the talk of the LAS guys taking 40-yard shots up a tree. I personally wouldn't take a 40- yard shot at a live deer on the ground, but that is just my preference. The best way I can explain this is... You are up 100-foot on a bridge. Ten yards in front of the bridge is a boat. The slant range to the boat would show about 43 yards. The true shooting distance would be 10 yards.
 
#40 ·
When I aim at a deer or target that’s say 3 yards or so from my saddle 20-25 feet up the tree I have to use my 60 yard pin. Also I have killed many deer past 40 yards from a tree stand to each there own I guess but I agree they have more time to react, if the deer comes in acting spooky I won’t take that shot. I have also had a deer duck my shot at 15 yards she did the deer splits and put her belly on the ground. My bow is shooting my hunting arrows 290 fps with a 546 grain arrow.


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